Change Me Lord" - Bill Watkins - July 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Caterpillars in the Desert: Trusting the Process of Metamorphosis

The desert’s harshness cannot stop life from transforming. Just as caterpillars become butterflies despite their crawling beginnings, God works through seasons of discomfort to reshape us. True change isn’t about self-improvement but surrendering to His chisel. Like Michelangelo seeing David in flawed marble, God envisions glory in our rough edges. Spiritual metamorphosis requires patience as He strips away what hinders flight. Trust the Artist even when the process feels like a wilderness. [59:48]

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18, ESV)

Reflection: What “caterpillar-like” habit or mindset are you clinging to that God might be calling you to release into His transformative hands? How can you lean into trust instead of resistance today?

Day 2: The Flawed Marble and the Sculptor’s Vision

A rejected block of marble became a masterpiece because Michelangelo saw potential others missed. God specializes in redeeming what the world discards. Our cracks and weaknesses aren’t obstacles to His purpose but raw materials for His glory. Surrender isn’t passive it’s positioning ourselves before the Sculptor daily. True transformation begins when we believe His vision over our insecurities. [01:02:24]

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1, ESV)

Reflection: What part of your story feels like “flawed marble” right now? How might God be using it to sculpt Christlikeness in you?

Day 3: Cold Showers and Unseen Mercies

A pencil-thin stream of icy water in the desert becomes a metaphor for God’s unexpected grace. His mercies often arrive in disguised forms cold showers that wake us to spiritual thirst, tarantulas that teach us vigilance. Like the Psalmist in the wilderness, we learn to trace His kindness in discomfort. Every rattlesnake and black widow becomes a tutor in dependence. [48:02]

“Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you overlooked God’s mercy because it came wrapped in difficulty? How might today’s “cold shower” be an invitation to deeper repentance?

Day 4: James, John, and the Prayer That Changes Everything

“Change me, Lord” disrupts the disciples’ self-centered agenda. This prayer shifts our focus from exploiting others to serving them, from seeking advantage to seeking holiness. Like Peter’s post-resurrection redemption, transformation begins when we stop asking God to bless our plans and start joining His. The hardest changes often start with three words whispered in surrender. [50:45]

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you still praying “bless my way” instead of “change me”? What practical step could express “Christ lives in me” today?

Day 5: Starvation Diets and the Banquet of Renewal

Skipping spiritual meals while craving change is like avoiding the gym but wanting strength. Renewal requires feasting on Scripture, not nibbling on soundbites. Just as the body withers without food, the soul starves without the Word. God’s truth isn’t a quick fix but daily bread that reshapes desires and recalibrates perspectives. Transformation thrives at the table of consistent nourishment. [01:11:42]

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2, ESV)

Reflection: What “spiritual snack” have you substituted for real nourishment lately? How can you create space today to feast on Christ-centered truth?

Sermon Summary

Romans 12:1-2 takes up the cry, “Change me, Lord,” and puts it right in the middle of real life. Paul does not begin with surface changes, the kind advertisers promise with a pill or a little magic wand. The text presses deeper than weight, height, hair, clothes, or fitting in with the right crowd. The real changes needed are on the inside: impatience, envy, resentment, lust, a critical tongue, a mean streak, a guilty conscience, a stubborn spirit, an ungrateful heart.

Change is hard because a person can value one thing and still live another way. The tension between what a person wants to be and what a person actually does can get uncomfortable enough that it just gets ignored. Paul names the real choice: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Conformity means being pressed into a mold or cut out by a pattern. The world is always trying to tell a person who to be, how to think, how to act, and what matters.

Transformation is different. Paul’s word is the same word used for Jesus being transfigured, and the same word used in 2 Corinthians 3:18 for being changed while beholding the glory of the Lord. God does not call for a slight adjustment. God works a metamorphosis. The caterpillar does not just become a better caterpillar; it becomes a butterfly. The person crawling in the dirt is being made into something that can fly.

The mercies of God give the reason for presenting the body as a living sacrifice. Romans has already piled up those mercies: justification, redemption, forgiveness, grace, new life, no condemnation, adoption, the Spirit’s intercession, God working for good, love that cannot be separated. The goodness of God leads to repentance because divine mercy is meant to make a heart want to change.

The renewing of the mind keeps that transformation going. Colossians says to set the mind on things above, where Christ is seated. Romans says those of the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The word of God feeds the spirit so that transformation does not starve. God does the changing, but the child of God must intend, focus, and cooperate while God keeps hammering, sawing, and cutting away everything that does not look like the person he is making.

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Key Takeaways

1. Real change starts inside The body can be altered, dressed up, trained, or hidden, but the deeper trouble sits beneath the skin. Impatience, resentment, envy, lust, and an ungrateful spirit cannot be fixed by appearances. Romans 12 presses the question past cosmetics and asks whether the heart is willing to say, “Change me, Lord.” [53:36]
2. Conformity has one real alternative The world does not leave a soul alone; it presses, cuts, shapes, and names what a person should become. The imagined freedom of “doing it my way” is usually just another mold with a different label. Paul’s alternative is not self-made independence, but God changing a person from the inside out. [58:45]
3. Mercy makes repentance desirable The mercies of God are not cold doctrines stacked in a list; they are the reason a living sacrifice makes sense. Justification, forgiveness, adoption, and inseparable love create a heart that wants to turn. Repentance grows where goodness has been truly seen, because grace makes sin look smaller and God look better. [66:44]
4. Renewal feeds on God’s word A body cannot keep growing without food, and a spirit cannot keep transforming while starving. The word of God tells life as it really is, not as fear, media, habit, or desire describes it. A renewed mind keeps looking upward, where Christ is, until earthly patterns lose their power to define the heart. [71:22]
5. God keeps cutting away stone Michelangelo saw David inside the flawed block and cut away everything that did not belong. God sees what his people are becoming before other eyes can see it. The chiseling may hurt, but the pain belongs to construction, not abandonment.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[47:37] - Pecos River Encampment Stories
[49:51] - “I’m Like James and John”
[50:45] - Romans 12 and “Change Me”
[51:33] - What Would Really Change?
[53:36] - The Inner Changes Needed
[54:21] - Why Change Is Hard
[56:11] - Be Transformed, Not Conformed
[57:24] - Transfiguration and Transformation
[58:45] - The World’s Mold or God’s Work
[59:16] - Caterpillars Becoming Butterflies
[61:13] - God Still Under Construction
[63:23] - Michelangelo’s David and God’s Chisel
[64:03] - By the Mercies of God
[69:54] - Renewing the Mind
[73:49] - Invitation to Be Changed

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Observation Questions

What two commands does Paul give in Romans 12:2, and how do they contrast with one another?
The sermon mentions that "mercy makes repentance desirable" by listing mercies like justification, adoption, and God’s love. How does Romans 12:1 connect these mercies to the call for transformation? [01:04:03]
In the sermon, transformation is compared to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. What does this metaphor reveal about the nature of the change God works in us? [59:16]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Paul emphasize renewing the mind as the means of transformation rather than outward behavior alone? How does this connect to the idea of being "pressed into a mold" by the world? [58:05]
The sermon states, "God does not call for a slight adjustment. God works a metamorphosis." How does this align with the biblical concept of repentance as a heart-level change, not just external actions?
How does the analogy of Michelangelo chiseling David from a flawed block ([01:03:23]) help explain the tension between God’s work and human cooperation in transformation?

Application Questions

What specific "inner change" (impatience, envy, resentment, etc.) do you sense God might be chiseling away in you right now? What would it look like to cooperate with Him in that process this week?
The world constantly pressures us to conform to its patterns (social media, cultural values, etc.). What is one practical way you can intentionally "set your mind on things above" (Colossians 3:2) to resist this pressure?
Reflect on the "mercies of God" listed in the sermon (forgiveness, adoption, no condemnation). Which of these mercies most stirs your heart to desire repentance? How could you meditate on that truth daily?
The renewing of the mind requires feeding on God’s Word. What habit or routine could you start (or adjust) to prioritize Scripture in a way that fuels transformation instead of "starving" your spirit? [01:11:22]
When have you experienced a season where God’s "chiseling" felt painful? How might viewing that pain as part of His construction (not abandonment) change your perspective on current struggles?

Sermon Clips

61s

#NourishYourSoul

“``What is it that hinders us from doing that? Maybe maybe I just don't. Maybe I let everything else get in the way. You can't keep a body growing without feeding it. You can't keep a spirit transforming without feeding it on the word of God. Make sure that you do. Don't put yourself on a starvation diet when it comes to the word of God. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. God says, I will change you, but you must intend. I will change you, but you have to focus. I will change you. Works of your merit won't do it. None of us can make the change by ourselves. Only God can ultimately change us. We can plant, we can water, but God is always going to give the increase. He's the one who's going to do it. God is the one who changes us.”

46s

#ChooseGodsWay

“But you only have one other choice. Forget what Frank Sinatra said when he sung, I did it my way. He didn't do it his way. The fact of the matter is you're either doing it the world's way or God's doing it his way. You have a choice. The world will do have its way with you or God will change you from the inside out. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Metamorphosis, the word that we get from this word is really interesting because it describes tadpoles becoming frogs, but my favorite is caterpillars becoming butterflies.”

45s

#FromCaterpillarToButterfly

“If you didn't know anything about them and somebody said in a little while that's gonna be beautiful and it's gonna fly, you would say no. There's no way. That can't become that. The world looks at us and they see us with our warts and all and they say, you can't be something great. I can see what you look like and you have no idea that God's at work in us to make us into something beautiful, to make us into something doesn't crawl in the dirt but flies. He's making us into something amazing, but he's doing it. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. God is faithful and he does not give up on his people.”

45s

#GodSculptsUs

“He already sees the David that he wants, and he cuts away everything else. God sees the person that he wants us to be, and he's in the process of cutting out all of the rest of it. So Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present yourself living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. He says, the reason that I give my life over to the Lord to transform me is because of the mercies of God. In order to understand that, you've gotta go back and read those first 11 chapters of Romans as he talks about what those things are. I wanna just make a list of them for a moment, some of the mercies.”

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Change Me Lord" - Bill Watkins - July 12, 2026 - 9AM